Thursday, January 25, 2007

Huzzah, Another Geriatric Joins the Mets!

Did anyone else catch the headline last week that the Metropolitans are considering signing Ruben Sierra to a minor league contract? You heard me. Ruben fucking Sierra. Forget the fact that he’s 41 and had vanished off the face of the earth in recent years. He’s an ex-Yank. Note to Omar Minaya: the Yanks are supposed to collect ex-Mets, not the other way around. As much as I love Bronx Zoo leftovers, I must say I’m a little skeptical about what Ruben Sierra’s impact will be in the Mets’ farm system.

More importantly as of this writing, their biggest off-season acquisition came in the form of Moises Alou, an aging outfielder who likes to urinate on his own hands. (Don’t believe me? Click here: http://www.slate.com/id/2100652). You know you've arrived in life when someone can google your name and "urine" and get multiple page results. Other than Alou, the Mets pretty much stood still in a ridiculously overpriced trading market.

So they didn’t spend $126 million for Barry Zito, in the greater scheme of things, that’s fine by me. Remember in early August when Omar Minaya secured a pair of what at the time looked like generous deals for his two golden boys? (Wright - 6YR, $55 mil/Reyes - 4YR, $23.25 mil). I’m comforted by the fact that the Mets are spending $78 million to have Wright and Reyes for a combined 10 years. What a fantastic deal.

So why am I whining? Well, the problem is that other than Beltran, Wright, and Reyes, the Mets are an aging group. Let’s look at the breakdown:

  1. Pedro Martinez: Old and creaky. Once managed to fall in the shower.

  2. Carlos Delgado: Too old to stand for the national anthem.

  3. Jose Valentine: Remembers the Spanish Civil War.

  4. Tom Glavine: Even older.

  5. Orlando Hernandez: Cuban defector -- age unknown by MLB – could be 70.

  6. Moises Alou: Dear god is that bastard old.

  7. Ruben Sierra: Possibly dead.

  8. Julio Franco: Modern day Methuselah.

Don’t get me wrong, I love the elderly (or as I like to call them, “the living dead”). But I’d rather not see an early bird buffet at Shea if that’s hunkey-dorey with Omar. Bring up some fresh talent from the farm system already, will ya? Read: not Heath Bell or Jose Lima.

Still the Mets have come a long way since the 1991-1996 era. Or as others have dubbed them: “The Carl Everett Years: Holy shit this team is bad.” Ah yes, the lean years… Still, as Chinese soupmakers everywhere can attest, you can't enjoy the sweet without having tasted the sour. (That last sentence made much more sense in my head than it did typed out).

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6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Nice blog Nick. Congrats.

I think the Ruben Sierra signing was a good one.

Two words: Lastings Milledge. Rubin is gonna be at AAA keeping an eye on the young buck, make sure he doesnt get disgruntled and teaching him how to play the game the right way.

If Rubin is on the 25-man roster, that means we in trouble!

We've got a lot of young guns on the rise Nick, this team will get a lot younger real quick.

We have young pitching arms galore right on the verge, our OF will be golden for years upon years.

IF prospects is the one thing we are lacking for sure. Hopefully Carp will continue to improve and turn himself into the real deal and a possible replacement for delgado when its time

Rickey said...

Egad, a poster. My feeling is that if Julio Franco couldn't keep Milledge from acting up, then Ruben's chances aren't all that great. I mean cmon, Julio Franco giving you advice is practically like Moses talking to you.

Ed in Westchester said...

Nice Nick.

I'll add you to my links.

You're gonna moderate comments? Man, that's gonna be tough. Maybe just do verification (the scrambled letters). That will stop spam.

Rickey said...

Ed--I'll go with comment moderation for the time being. If I get enough people posting, I'll open it up for verification. Thanks for linking.

Anonymous said...

Gratuitous shot at Heath Bell's ability? It's like you put out the welcome mat for me.

Good luck on what appears to be a propitious start. But do be nice to the elderly. We're either on our way to being them or being not at all. Either way, Julio Franco could take me in a race any time.

Rickey said...

Somwhere, as we speak, Heath Bell is protesting that last post by angrily eating a cheeseburger.